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Shadow and Shade

"I stayed up all night finishing Shadow and Shade, a fascinating fantasy world of magic, family, and what happens when the two collide. A tough and enchanting tale that will have you listening to the forest and talking to the wolves. I can't wait to see what Gerrard writes next!" Rebecca Cantrell, New York Times bestselling author of The World Beneath

Subject: Parr, Robert E. Age: 33. Exhibits acute eisotrophobia and migraines associated with gazing into mirrors. Migraine symptoms manifested themselves at age 11 with the onset of adolescence. Eisotrophobia existed in a milder form during childhood years and became more intense after migraines began to occur. Due to impairment of hearing, sight, and other senses during or after migraine attacks, Mr. Parr underwent CAT scan and MRI visits to check for the existence of brain tumors. None were discovered. These tests were repeated annually from age 11 through age 15, and would have been reduced to semiannually had the severity and frequency of migraines not increased. Mr. Parr now experiences an average of one migraine per month, and still undergoes CAT scan and MRI treatment to evaluate the progression of his abilities.

Mr. Parr himself discovered, as a boy, that gazing into mirrors would trigger a migraine. This has been duplicated in lab tests. The precise connection between these two conditions is unknown. At age 19, during a CAT scan, Mr. Parr was asked to look into a mirror while undergoing a CAT scan. He agreed to do so. Mr. Parr lost consciousness. Shortly before this occurred, his brain exhibited an exponential increase in stimulation of the frontal lobe, followed by an almost mathematically identical increase in stimulation of the temporal lobes. In a manner of speaking, Mr. Parr was thinking hundreds of times faster than a person normally would, and he was hearing what it sounded like. Due to the nature of the program, this information was withheld from his family. Mr. Parr’s treatment has been oriented toward

(1) allowing him to cope with his condition

(2) providing us with the greatest opportunity to study his condition

(3) developing his condition in such a manner that it can be duplicated and applied for practical use

During his most recent session, Mr. Parr, knowingly or unknowingly, exhibited psychokinesis by shattering a glass in a moment of anger. This leap of psychic ability was unexpected, not to mention unprecedented. Mr. Parr appeared to ignore that the incident occurred. As his doctor and given my experience with Mr. Parr, I believe he is feigning ignorance. In recent years, Mr. Parr has grown tired of counseling sessions, and has repeatedly skipped appointments, provided false information to myself (under the guise of ‘messing around’) and proven troublesome as a patient. Given the high level of progress that Mr. Parr’s condition showed in his teen years, and our ability to reproduce some of his symptoms in test subjects using gene therapy, this department accepted this behavior with a fair degree of latitude. This is no longer acceptable. Mr. Parr’s condition offers us capabilities beyond those we expected to see in the next several decades, but Mr. Parr himself may become impossible to control.